After the menu was compiled, the items to be taken away were also planned.
Even for the various cans and drinks that need to be exported from the capital to Tokyo, Ning Weimin also made a list with several cooperative units such as Polar Bear, Jimo Distillery, and the District Sugar, Tobacco and Liquor Company, and took them Arrived at a better price.
The next step is to find a qualified export agency and go through the relevant procedures.
But after working hard for several days to produce such a result, Ning Weimin felt a little uneasy at the last moment.
For no other reason than because they have prepared a menu that fully takes into account the tastes and eating habits of Japanese people and has removed most of the mutton and river fish dishes.
There are also dishes that are too greasy, dishes that use organs as the main ingredient, and dishes that use poultry heads and feet as the main ingredient, which are basically given up.
Because of the long distance, inconvenient export, legal restrictions, and many other reasons.
Remove the bird's nest, camel hump, bear paw, venison, suckling pig, pigeon, Beijing white duck, Ge Xian rice, bracken...these high-end ingredients that can reflect the characteristics of palace cuisine.
Then the remaining available dishes will of course seem ordinary.
If there were no more gimmick dishes like the three-point non-stick, peach blossom pan, jade soup, clear jasmine soup, boiled cabbage, and a thunder on the ground.
Just looking at the fish fillets, stir-fried shrimps, hibiscus chicken slices, Kung Pao chicken, sweet and sour pork ribs, sweet and sour pork loin, and dry croquettes, these dishes are really like the Sichuan and Shandong style that has been famous for the past thirty years. The main home-cooked restaurant.
To be honest, Ning Weimin is not worried about whether he can easily earn a lot of yen at this point.
Money can definitely be earned.
He was a little worried about whether he would disappoint Japanese customers if he really followed this menu.
If the Japanese feel deceived by eating such palace dishes, it would be equivalent to destroying the imperial cuisine brand overseas.
It was not Ning Weimin who was being thrown away. He was afraid that the reputation of Chinese cuisine would be damaged.
He can't do something that will make the Japanese laugh and be stabbed in the spine by the whole country.
So under the pressure brought by self-doubt, for the sake of caution and for safety, he had to go find "Zhang Dashao" again.
I beg you to take a look at it and give me some insight.
Only when the old man sees it and thinks it is acceptable, can he regain his confidence and do things in a down-to-earth manner.
For this, Ning Weimin carefully prepared gifts.
Unexpectedly, I called the staff canteen of Polar Bear and asked to meet the old man, but no one was found.
The other side actually told him that "Zhang Dashao" was quitting his job.
Ning Weimin had no choice but to call Huimin Yan Hotel again and asked Sister Tan, who was looking after the store, to tell her to tell "Zhang Dashao" for him and make an appointment with the old man.
As a result, Sister Tan passed the letter to Huimin Yan Hotel, but the reply was in a way that Ning Weimin never expected.
Two or three days later, it was Kang Shude who sent a message from "Zhang Dashao" to Ning Weimin, saying that it would be easy for him to meet him, so he could just meet him in the morning.
Ning Weimin inquired again and found out that these two old men were the only ones he could love, because they were both too idle and could not bear the boredom of life.
Since the second half of last year, the two of them have opened a small wine shop on Yangmeizhu Xiejie, not far from Meishi Street, and started a small business together.
What does it mean to be far away in the horizon and close before your eyes?
This is it.
Shocked by the news, Ning Weimin, who was kept in the dark, started complaining to the old man.
"Oh, old man, why didn't you tell me this earlier..."
But to be honest, he really shouldn't have said this.
Because Kang Shude was more resentful than him, he stopped him in just a few words.
"How early are you talking? I told you that you would listen. Ask yourself, how many days have you been at home since you came back? You are so busy, thinking about big deals every day. Will you? Do you care about me opening a small wine shop? ”
Yes, the old man is still picky.
Of course, if you ask yourself, Ning Weimin is indeed in the wrong.
If nothing else, I haven't been looking for "Zhang Dashao" these days, and he hasn't been idle either.
For example, Chang Yuling, a descendant of "Puochang", Jiang Sanchang and Zou Qingshan who made utensils, Liu Yongqing who made antique porcelain, Ma Kaiyuan who made silk figures, Zhang Chongming, the descendant of "Filigree King", Wu Yukuan, the palace lantern maker, and Li Baoshan, the carpenter.
He visited these old artists who could make him money one by one, bringing gifts and sealing thick red envelopes.
But despite all the calculations, his days with his master were numbered.
Even though the two of them stayed together, apart from eating, they only talked about the donated cultural relics and how to buy things from Hongguang Pavilion and Dunhua Pavilion in the future.
In terms of filial piety, he was not as good as the first year. At least he accompanied Kang Shude to Jinmen for a while.
"I care, I care, of course I care. Your matter is as big as the sky, no matter what you say, I am willing to listen."
Ning Weimin was also very decisive, and quickly Give in and use diplomacy to please others.
But it’s no use.
He is good at pouring this pot of ecstasy soup on others, but there is no chance of fooling Kang Shude.
Master, that is Master, there are ambushes everywhere!
I heard that the old man was neither anxious nor annoyed, neither warm nor angry, and he just said another piece of nonsense in a serious manner.
Hey, he treated the other person the same way he did it on the spot, almost choking Ning Weimin when he somersaulted.
"Oh, then why didn't you tell me earlier if you were willing to listen?"
Listen, it's your own fault. Who told you that you were so arrogant just now?
Get this roast chicken nest!
However, the quarrel between the master and the disciple was just a quarrel, which only offended their spirits but did not hurt their feelings.
To put it in Beijing dialect, it was just to amuse Mengzi. This was the fun of the young and old grinding their teeth and competing with each other.
And at around nine o'clock the next morning, Ning Weimin followed Kang Shude for a stroll to see the old man's small wine shop.
What he saw and heard on this trip was completely beyond his imagination, and it was truly an eye-opener.
Not to mention other things, first of all, the location and appearance of this small wine shop are very special and extraordinary.
You must know that the Qianmen Dashilan area is not an ordinary place. Several alleys carry rich history.
This Yangmeizhu Xiejie is one of them.
This street is 496 meters long, starting from Meishi Street in the east and ending at Yanshou Street in the west.
In the Ming Dynasty, this street was named "Xie Street" because of its direction.
In the Qing Dynasty, Liang Shizheng, the Minister of Household Affairs and Dongge University Scholar of the Qianlong Dynasty, once lived here.
During the Republic of China, Yangmeizhu Street became a gathering place for many bookstores, guild halls and shops.
Not only seven well-known bookstores, including World Bookstore, Zhongzheng Bookstore, Kaiming Bookstore, Guangyi Bookstore, Universal Bookstore, Dazhong Bookstore, and China Press, have opened here. This street is also the seat of the Bankers Guild, the former residence of Hubi master Dai Yuexuan, the former residence of Peking Opera martial artist Yang Xiaolou, the former residence of Pingju opera actor Xin Fengxia, etc.
The writer Lu Xun and the writer Shen Congwen have all left their footprints in this inconspicuous street.
At that time, Shen Congwen, who chose to be a Northern drifter, first arrived in the capital and lived in the Youxi Guild Hall on this street.
He was impoverished and had no stove in winter. He covered himself with everything he could when sleeping, and wrote prose novels such as "Border Town", "Long River", and "Records of Western Hunan".
To put it bluntly, this Yangmei and Bamboo Street has been artistic for more than a hundred years.
It is a genuine cultural and scholarly street.
Although Ning Weimin did not fully understand these histories and allusions.
But such a street is very unique in terms of atmosphere and buildings.
When Ning Weimin walked in with Kang Shude, it was almost ten o'clock. The sun just hit the road and everything was bright.
And because it was working time, it felt extremely quiet as soon as I walked in.
In an atmosphere where only one or two pedestrians occasionally walk by, or a bicycle passes by;
Paired with the withered ivy on the mottled gray brick wall, the portal with fallen red paint, and several A small building with a brick and wood structure, either Chinese or Western, or a combination of Chinese and Western, adds an indescribable unique charm to this street.
How to describe it appropriately?
In Ning Weimin’s feeling, it seems that there is both the cultural atmosphere of Liulichang and a real sense of historical vicissitudes.
After all, these are old houses, which are more approachable and down-to-earth than the renovated Liulichang.
It seems as if the antiques here are alive and people can read the stories here.
As for the wine shop jointly opened by Kang Shude and "Zhang Dashao", it is in the middle of Yangmeizhu Xiejie. The shop is very easy to find.
Except because it is an old-fashioned shop where boards have to be removed and hung every day.
As a facade house, the decorations of the past with carved beams and painted pillars are still there, which is very conspicuous.
It is also because there is a two-story building that is more distinctive next to the store.
What is special about this building is that it is so tall and abrupt, and its style is a combination of Chinese and Western styles.
The two-story small Western-style gatehouse has blue bricks reaching the top, and the bricks are ground to seams, making it much taller than the shops next to it.
However, the width of the overall building is not satisfactory, and the first floor is almost just a portal.
The arched entrance door is less than two meters wide and more than three meters high, with the words "Qingyun Pavilion" written on it.
Such a width makes it appear extremely narrow compared to its height.
To put it bluntly, if you want to hang a clock, it will become a bell tower.
So it makes people wonder what kind of place this is.
"Old man, your store is right next to Qingyun Pavilion. But what kind of place is this? Is it for people to live in, or for selling goods? Why does this small building only have a doorway?"
Ning Weimin couldn't bear his curiosity, so he asked. Unexpectedly, Kang Shude responded with disgust.
“What? Qingyun Pavilion, you don’t know where it is?”
"I don't know." Ning Weimin continued to be confused, "I really don't know."
"Think about it, you have lived here since you were a child, and I can't. You haven't heard anything. Yes?"
"I really haven't heard of it. Is this place famous? No...it's not a haunted house, right?"
Ning Weimin's thoughts started to wander. But, of course, he was scolded by the old man.
"Fart! Go away and cool off! I'm doing business next to a haunted house? Can you please treat me better?"
The real answer revealed by the master later left him speechless.
"Where is Qingyun Pavilion? It was the first of the four major shopping malls in the capital at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. It was once tied with Quanyechang, Dong'an Market, and the first floor of Shoushan. It was also the first to introduce the fashion of billiards in the capital. It is a place for the entertainment of dignitaries. It integrates shopping, entertainment, dining, drinking and services, so it attracts many literati and nobles to gather here. Cai E and Xiao Fengxian often meet here. Have a drink at Puzhenyuan. It is said that Puzhenyuan’s famous dish Spicy Fengjie is very popular with Xiaofengxian, right? The movie based on the fairy tale was shot here..."
"Zhi...zhiyin..."
Why doesn't Ning Weimin know?
After all, he is a time traveler from the information society.
He didn't need to watch the movie to understand the story of Cai E and Xiao Fengxian.
Not to mention that "Friends" was released in 1982. He was not so busy at that time, and he can't remember how many times he was invited by Master Mi to attend a few shows at the Daguanlou Cinema.
So he remembers Xiao Fengxian played by Zhang Yu and Cai E played by Wang Xingang very clearly.
I also like the song "Mountains and Flowing Water" from that movie.
The only thing he wasn't sure about was - was it really a movie shot here?
It's not like that...
"Old man, it can't be right? How could it be filmed here? Do you think how wide is this small building? This person has to go upstairs to get in. How big is the space upstairs? How big is the room upstairs? You can’t remember it wrong, right?”
Kang Shude was immediately amused when he didn’t know the words of this question.
"Let me say hello to you. You can't judge people by their appearance, and the same is true for things. Do you think you are ignorant or confused? Don't look at the outside world. I also tell you, in fact, It's quite big inside. The Qingyun Pavilion is laid out in the shape of a sedan, with the main hall not facing the street. There are two long narrow passages like sedan poles extending from the north to the south, leading to Dashilan West Street in the south and Yangmeizhu Street in the north, so there are sedan buildings. What you see now is basically the result of the renovation in 1905. The entire building is surrounded on all sides and has three floors. Qingyun Pavilion once had two famous time-honored restaurants, Puzhenyuan Restaurant and Yuhuchun Teahouse. They are on the second and third floors respectively. The area must be 4,000 square meters, otherwise how can it be considered the first of the four major shopping malls?"
Ning Weimin finally figured it out.
"What you mean is that this Qingyun Pavilion steamed stuffed bun has meat. It has two doors, and the whole thing is like a '中'. No matter whether it is north or south, there is only one door exposed, and the inner flesh and belly are hidden. In the middle of the two streets?"
Kang Shude nodded in approval.
“Yes, that’s what it means, our side is the back door. You have to go to its front door, which is more majestic and lively than the back door. And the golden arched door over there is The three characters "Qingyun Pavilion" written on the plaque at the bottom were written by the famous calligrapher He Weipu, the grandson of He Shaoji, a veteran of the three dynasties of the late Qing Dynasty and the grandson of the great calligrapher He Shaoji. There are also gold characters on a black background on both sides of the arched gate. The first couplet is - the hidden alley where generations of literary heroes hang out in style. The second couplet says - the quiet place in the bustling city where the elegant and elegant heroes of our generation come and go. "
"That old man, now this is the place. What is the purpose of the house in Qingyun Pavilion? You haven't told me yet? Is it a private house or a public house? Can we go in and take a look? Is this also under the control of our street? Let’s talk about this?”
The more Ning Weimin listened, the more excited he became, feeling like a ball of hot coals in his heart.
If nothing else, he thought of the commercial value of Qingyun Pavilion again.
The story of Cai E and Xiao Fengxian, isn’t this a natural big IP?
Besides, it’s such a big place inside, so what can I do to tidy it up?
Unfortunately, Kang Shude also understood his thoughts, but what he told him was regrettable news.
"You kid, don't worry about it. Let me tell you, the back door is sealed, and it is now occupied by a government-run guest house. You want a room here? There is no chance. What kind of place is this? Big Qianmen, whoever wants to do business doesn’t want to come here. I won’t hide it from you. It’s already difficult for me to ask Director Li for help. There are more and more people who want to do business. It is getting harder and harder to find such a front-end house. Director Li is purely thinking about the residents here. He feels that nowadays, non-staple food restaurants don’t like to deal with drinkers, and he dislikes this kind of business. I don’t make any money. I hope you can still have a place to drink and chat, so you can help me run away. You are not in the capital, so don’t cause trouble to Director Li.”
As soon as he said this, Ning Weimin understood that it was not feasible at this time, so he could only put aside his thoughts and return his attention to Kang Shude's shop.
Just taking a closer look, he discovered another strange thing. This old man's shop... why doesn't it have a sign?